Electric trolley.



m. 695,953. Patented Mar. 25,1902.

6. E. SMITH. ELECTRIC TBULLEY,

(Application filed fi'ov. 4, 1901.& (I0 Model.) I

THE NORRIS PETERS 9a PHOTO-LIYNU wAsn NGTON, D. c.

rTn STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

CYRUS E. SMITH, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARD SHORE, OE FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,953, dated March 25, 1902.

' Application filed November 4, 1901. Serial No. 80,977. (No model-J To all whont may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUS E. SMITH, a citi zen of the United States,residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Trolleys, of which the following is a specification.

Figure l is a perspective view of my invention, one side of the standard being shown in lo dotted lines for sake of clearness. Fig. 2 is a section, the parts occupying the same rela tive positions shown' in Fig. 1, the trolley being held against its wire by its lifting mechanism Fig. 8 is a section showing the trolley off and above its wire andjust beginning to fall by reason of its own weight, the lifting mechanism being disconnected from the trolley. Fig. 4: is a section showing the position of the trolley after its fall. Fig. 5 is a section showing how the trolleyis reconnected with its lifting mechanism.

As usually constructed, a pivoted electric trolley or contact arm is provided with a tension-spring by which the trolley is forced upward against the conductor. Should the trolley slip off the conductor, the trolley would be thrown violently upward and forward and not only come into forcible contact with the span-wires which hold the conductor in place,

but would likely break the same and injure the trolley itself.

Now it is the principal object of my inven tion to provide means whereby the trolley the moment it has been raised above the con- 5 ductorapredetermined distance will become disconnected from a lifting mechanism and will by reason of its weight drop below the span-wires and the conductor and there remain until operatively reconnected with the lifting mechanism to force the trolley against the conductor.

The second feature of my invention resides in a device whereby the trolley can be con veniently reconnected with said lifting mech- 5 auism.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of myinvention and the best mode now known of applying that principle, A is a trolley having pivots a a, mounted in bearings therefor in two supporting-plates Z) Z) of a standard B. Depending from the trolley and below the pivots a a of the latter is an arm a, within and lengthwise of which is mounted a reciprocatory catch a that projects therefrom by reason of a spring a within said arm. The trolley is forced upward by a tension-spring 0, one end of which is fast to the base of the standard B at its rear, as at 0, while the other end is secured to two parallel links 0 c, which slide between the supporting-plates b b of the standard B and have a lock-bar 0 adapted to slip over the beveled rear face of and e11- gage with the catch (1 projecting from the end of the arm a.

The lifting mechanism for forcing the trolley upward having been described, I will now point out the means by which the trolley whenever it rises a definite distance above its conductor D will by reason of its own weight drop below the conductor.

In each of the plates 1) b is a cam-slot I). These slots 1) b are opposite and fora greater portion of their length have the same curvature as the are described by the catch a in the arm a; butnear the lower extremities of their curvatures they move downward and away from the path of the catch. The lockbar 0 of the links C 0 projects through the latter and is in cooperative engagement with the cam-slots bb. To reconnect the lifting 8o mechanism to the trolley, the lock-bar C is moved into a position to engage the catch a and to accomplish this result the links 0 c are pivotally secured to the arms of two bellcrank levers c a that virtually form one lever, and are pivoted to the plates I) Z; of the base B, as at c 0, and whose opposite arms, near the free ends, are united together by a bar C \Vhen the trolley is disconnected from the spiral spring 0 and it is in its lowest position, (see Fig. 4,) it rests upon or near the bar 0 of the bell-crank levers c 0 To diminish the force of the falling trolley A, a spring 0 is provided, one end being fixed to the rear face of the arm a, and the other end made fast to a bar c connecting the links 0 c.

c is a stop to engage the arm a and prevent the trolleys center of gravity from accidentally passing over the pivots a a.

The operation of myinvention is as follows: Assuming the above-described parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noticed that the lifting mechanism is operatively connected with the catch and is forcing the trolley A upward against the conductor D. If now one assumes that the trolley has slipped ofi the conductor, as shown in Fig. 3, the spring continuing to act raises the trolley; but almost immediately the bar 0 of the links 0 c is by the downward course ofthe cam-slots moved away from the catch a and becomes disengaged therefrom, and the trolley after rising a short distance above the conductor falls downwardly against the slight pressure offered thereto by the spring 0 and comes to a state of rest on or near the bar 0 of the bell-crank levers 0 c The next operation consists in-operatively connecting the lifting mechanism with the catch a, of the trolley. Bya downward pull on the trolleyrope (see Fig. 5) the trolley acts downwardly on the bar 0 joining the bell-crank levers c '0 together and moves them about their pivots 0 0 The links arepnshed forward and travel the course determined for them by the catch-bar 0 in cooperative engagement with and moving along the cam-slots b 1), until it reaches the end thereof. At that point the bar comes into contact with the rear beveled face of the projecting catch a and passes over and into locking engagement with the catch. Tension on the trolley-rope being slackened and the spring being in operative engagement with the trolley and unopposed,

the trolley is forced upward against the conductor. The cycle of operation is now complete and may be repeated when desired and not till then.

It will be seen that I have provided means whereby the tension-spring is disconnected from the trolley at a predetermined height and the trolley drops out of a position dangerous to itself and to the span-wires and that I have provided means whereby the tension-spring can be operatively reconnected with the trolley.

What I claim is The combination of a pivoted electric contact-arm provided with a catch; apparatus to force said contact-arm toward an electric conductor, said apparatus consisting of a spring, a link, and a latch to engage said catch; means to disconnect said latch and catch, when the contact-arm has moved a predetermined distance; a lever, the end portion of one of whose arms may be in operative engagement with said contact-arm, the other end portion of said lever being pivotally connected to said link; and means to guide the said latch on said link, into locking engagement with said catch of said contact-arm.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, CYRUS E. SMITH.

WVitnesses:

HENRY II. EARL, HERBERT A. BORDEN. 

